Title issues

[1930]

Anyone been through this before?
Car, it’s extremely low mileage ( for it’s year ) and super clean.
Runs, drives, stops and the radio works.
Best yet I only paid 300 dollars for it but there is no title.
Evidently the gentleman that owned it died, went to his wife and she became incapable of driving and eventually died ( all this happened while the two of them were transitioning to Florida.
I’m pretty sure it’s not titled in fl, still has Jersey plates on it.
It’s sat for approx 6 years, she has passed and the estate is in cleanup stage.
There is a son and he wants nothing to do with it, asked realtor to clean out the property and things have to go.
From my understanding ( and I don’t have any other information at this point ) he literally isn’t going to lift a finger to do a thing.
I have verified that it’s not a stolen vehicle.
How can I get a title in the least painful way?
Thanks

 

[Jstpssng]

What year is it? If the son doean't want to help you might be SOL. A junkyard won't even touch it without a title.

 

[BleedingOrange]

If I was in your situation, I would get it moved to my location ASAP. There has to be a way to get the ownership, but I,m not sure how that is done in your state. I would probably get a written bill of sale from the estate handler, and talk to a licencing agent. With the VIN of the vehicle, the history should be able to be traced, even if you have to do that on a per state basis. Can your share more details on the vehicle itself ? Year, make , model, and a picture would help to give an opinion on if it is even worth spending time and money to get an ownership.

 

[workinonit]

In SC you can apply for a title in situations like that. I run into it messing with old cars. Not sure what documentation you need but I know it can be done.

 

[duffer]

Take the bill of sale to your DMV and ask them what else is required. You might need a duplicate title from NJ. They can certainly issue one.

But I would start with the bill of sale & VIN.

 

[1930]

If I was in your situation, I would get it moved to my location ASAP. There has to be a way to get the ownership, but I,m not sure how that is done in your state. I would probably get a written bill of sale from the estate handler, and talk to a licencing agent. With the VIN of the vehicle, the history should be able to be traced, even if you have to do that on a per state basis. Can your share more details on the vehicle itself ? Year, make , model, and a picture would help to give an opinion on if it is even worth spending time and money to get an ownership.

It’s a 2009 Kia Rondo, not a desirable car I know but it has 91,000 miles
It’s not beat up, small dent in qtr and fading paint on hood.
Worse case scenario I could buy a junker with good title and swap.
It is a Kia but if taken care of I could probably drive it another 100 thou plus.

 

[D&D]

It’s a 2009 Kia Rondo, not a desirable car I know but it has 91,000 miles
It’s not beat up, small dent in qtr and fading paint on hood.
Worse case scenario I could buy a junker with good title and swap.
It is a Kia but if taken care of I could probably drive it another 100 thou plus.

Thats gonna be your best angle unless you can get a certified copy of the previous owners death certificate and a copy of the previous title

 

[WM75Guy]

See if Florida has a process to get a title for an abandoned vehicle. I handled many of these in my day working Code Enforcement. As was stated the junk yard will not take a vehicle without a title. Relatives were trying to clean up properties where the owner died with many junk vehicles on the property, but titles were never found. Texas process is after it sits 48 hours on private property it is considered abandoned. You send certified letters to the registered owner and any lienholder, if they can be located. I would run the VINs to assist in that, as it helped me get the property cleaned up. If they do not respond within 20 days, you can apply for an abandoned vehicle title. It would be in your name so you can register the vehicle or scrap it when the time comes.

 

[gstrom99]

Anyone been through this before?
Car, it’s extremely low mileage ( for it’s year ) and super clean.
Runs, drives, stops and the radio works.
Best yet I only paid 300 dollars for it but there is no title.
Evidently the gentleman that owned it died, went to his wife and she became incapable of driving and eventually died ( all this happened while the two of them were transitioning to Florida.
I’m pretty sure it’s not titled in fl, still has Jersey plates on it.
It’s sat for approx 6 years, she has passed and the estate is in cleanup stage.
There is a son and he wants nothing to do with it, asked realtor to clean out the property and things have to go.
From my understanding ( and I don’t have any other information at this point ) he literally isn’t going to lift a finger to do a thing.
I have verified that it’s not a stolen vehicle.
How can I get a title in the least painful way?
Thanks

Try this?

How To Get A Bonded Title in Florida - CarTitles.com

Struggling to Title Your Vehicle in Florida? Learn how a bonded title can help you obtain vehicle ownership when key documents are missing.

cartitles.com

 

[zzvyb6]

I bought a manlift trailer without a title (needed because of weight). Went to a District Court and a judge signed a DOT form assigning abandoned vehicle ownership to me. Paid $15 to DOT. Title came in the mail the next day.

 

[riptides]

Just went through this twice, once in FLA once in MD. Depending on who you talk to at each DMV, be prepared for multiple answers.

In both cases we had DMV do records searches for previous titles, we provided death certificates and other legal papers to prove affiliations with the decedent.

In FLA the death certificate was all that was needed to get the processing of the title started.

Good luck!

 

[JimRB]

In my brothers estate in TN, I left probate court after being assigned executor and walk over to the TN state title place showing my court paperwork. I got a duplicate title. Months later I goofed up and signed the wrong part of the title back in Georgia, I had all my estate paperwork. Georgia made me get a new Georgia title. A few weeks later I walked back into the local car tag office and had them point where they wanted me to sign so I could give the title to the drug addict that bought the car but did not have the money to transfer the title and get tags. I hope that mess is out of my hands. A bit more straight forward than estate executors that do not want to help.

That said I still have a ton of mechanics toolboxes with tools, I think a never been fired 308 rifle, some ammo, some scopes and range finder, some reloading stuff, fly fishing equipment, some ham radio equipment to get rid of. Hard to sell stuff when you have not advertised it. I need to work on that as it has been a 8 months of that taking up space in Mom's garage, and some around my house. At least when my Dad died he left things in will and to my Mom. And he had cleaned out years of clutter, so not so much to get rid of.